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GeneralZorpa on Yugioh
More Cards That You Should Play
July 15, 2008

Scary Stuff
 
Well thanks to a multitude of horror flicks watched in my horror films class and about a gallon of Wild Cherry Pepsi, I can't seem to go to sleep tonight, which is good for you guys cuz I'm gonna pump out another article, yay! I also managed to reap the rewards from a thread I started on the forums, where I asked you guys which cards you wanted to see in my underrated cards section. I expect all of you reading this to comment on which card you want in my next article. It's in the gossip section if you want to add to it.
 
Today's article contains some cards from the list, as well as some that I have wanted to do for a while. First up we have the indomitable Don Zaloog. Next is the mysterious Mezuki from the upcoming Premium Pack II. Third is the sleeper hit Necro Gardna. Second to last is Winged Kuriboh Level 10. Then coming in last is Rescue Cat.
 
I Traded In My Guns For Swords
 
Yes, Don Zaloog. At one point the second most popular card in the game. Now most disregard him as trash with his low ATK score. The power of Don Zaloog cannot be denied though. discarding a card form your opponent's hand can be glorious. Even discarding from the top of your opponent's deck is good.
 
Fortunately for our thieving friend ATK modifying cards are at an all time high. Rush Recklessly, Shrink and Burden of the Mighty are all amazing cards that cut your opponent's monster down to size, thus getting Donny Z his effect. In fact a full suite of all of these cards gives Don Zaloog an almost unbeatable advantage in battle. There's the keyword, battle. These days most monsters are destroyed by effects. Namely Dark Armed Dragon, Judgment Dragon and Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. These monsters are actually easy enough to stop. Royal Oppression, Black Horn of Heaven, Prime Material Dragon, My Body As A Shield and Destruction Jammer all protect Don Zaloog while minimizing the damage to the card himself.
 
Then there is the classic bait play of setting Heavy Storm and Don Zaloog. Your opponent summons his own Don Zaloog (or other 1400 ATK monster like Armageddon Knight or Mystic Tomato) and attacks, bouncing off of Don's 1500 DEF and reaping a card from hand. Then to protect their monster and their hand, they set backrow defense. Next turn you flip Heavy Storm and proceed to beat face and reap cards at will.
 
Discarding from the deck for Don's second effect is almost always secondary to his hand discard effect, but in a game where graveyard manipulation is key, sending the right cards to the graveyard can cripple a strategy. dark Armed Dragon invests a lot of time in setting up the graveyard for big DAD plays, but a timely Zaloog discard can wreck the balance of the graveyard, forcing your opponent to either destroy Don or commit more resources to destroy him.
 
Most people would say that Don Zaloog's low ATK score makes him a liability, but I find it a blessing. It gets under Bottomless Trap Hole, Crush Card Virus and is able to be Special Summoned by Mystic Tomato. The fact that Don Zaloog is searchable by Reinforcements of the Army and the Warrior Returning Alive only adds to his power. In fact I am running an anti meta deck right now that uses him and just wrecks Gladiator Beasts. Cool Huh?
 
This Is My Boom Stick!
 
As if zombie decks didn't have enough support from the new structure deck, the arrival of Mezuki will give the deck new life (pun intended). As is fitting for a good card, it does stuff with the graveyard, has high ATK points (1700) and a killer picture, eve if it is just a horse guy and not a zombie. You will be able to uncover Mezuki in the new Premium Pack II hitting shelves reportedly later in the year. You have till then to get your copies of Goblin Zombie and Il Blud, because zombies just became even more infectious with this guy.
 
You remove him from play in order to revive a zombie form your graveyard. Brokeness on a stick sister. You can make explosive openings with this card, Red Eyes Undead Dragon, Zombie Master, Trade-In and Despair From the Dark. Plays like Trade-In Despair, set Goblin Zombie are amazing plays when all you have to do with Mezuki is remove him from play. Along with Il Blud, Book of Life and Zombie Master, the new zombie deck will basically kick the life out of most decks out there. They will be as explosive as Lightsworn, as powerful as DAD, as versatile as Gladiator Beasts and as consistent as Monarchs.
 
You will be able to DD Crow Mezuki's target, however chaining to his cost to remove himself from play will not stop him. Necro Gardna is another remove from play monster while in the graveyard, and all he does is stop an attack. Mezuki summons any Zombie, which is infinitely better. The fact that he is an EARTH monster does not even hurt his playability that much. In fact, it probably stopped him from getting restricted or banned, as Armageddon Knight would have made Mezuki a broken beyond belief card. Zombies needed another solid basic monster, and now they have it.
 
If You Strike Me Down, I Shall Become More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagine
 
That is what Necro Gardna says to his opponents before they attack him. Poor stats does not a bad card make as Sangan and Spirit Reaper have shown. Necro Gardna is a DARK Warrior with 600 ATK and 1300 DEF. So he benefits from all of the DARK and Warrior support out there. He is currently used in Lightsworn decks to get more use out of the discarded from deck cards. However, he does more than just block attacks.
 
He makes great discard fodder for any card, as he will just block an attack. He can be tributed for Crush Card Virus in a pinch. He can be dropped off with Armageddon Knight (my standard opening play in a DARk deck), discarded and dropped off for Dark Grepher, and even used as double emergency defense from a swarming deck. but what he does really well is manage the amount of DARK monsters in the graveyard for Dark Armed Dragon.
 
Essentially Necro makes any undesirable play a desirable one. Generally you will want to play this in a DAD deck or a Lightsworn deck, but I have found that he is just as useful in Warrior decks as well as having value in stall burn. He is one of those cards that make Gladiators weep and DAD and Lightsworn have to factor him into their calculations before they attack.
He is almost never a dead draw, as even if he is destroyed by an effect such as Judgment Dragon, he still has worth in the graveyard.
 
In fact, people still play Destiny Hero Malicious even though he is a horrible card. That is how powerful the remove from graveyard mechanic is. Mezuki is going to revive zombies with this ability, and Necro Gardna play has no signs of slowing down in increasing in popularity. So hoard those DD Crows and break out the Gravekeepers as these cards will make you frustrated beyond belief.
 
You Won't Like Me When I'm Angry
 
Usually you wouldn't associate such a phrase with anyone but the Hulk, but when I think of angry pushovers, Bruce Banner is not high on my list. Now, Winged Kuriboh Level 10 is an angry beast. His stats are the worst in the game for a level 10 monster, but that won't matter, as he will be smashing face. You tribute him by playing Transcendant Wings during your opponent's Battle Phase to destroy all of their ATK position monsters as well as dealing damage equal to their combined ATK.
 
Gladiators, DAD and other cards all require massive amounts of monsters on the field in order to win, which can spell DOOM for your opponents. The massive damage that Level 10 can cause is not trivial, but neither is the cost to bring out Winged Kuriboh's dark side. You need Winged Kuriboh on the field, Transcendant Wings face down and 2 cards in hand. You can only activate his effect on your opponent's turn during his/her Battle Phase.
 
The cost of playing Level 10 is huge, as your opponent would likely clear out your puffball and backfield before attacking. However, in the times that they don't Level 10 rapes face. Most players would not expect to see him, which makes him that more deadly. Also people are not usually expecting their attacks to be blocked as Mirror Force play is at an all time low. So the best weapon that Level 10 has is surprise. If you can spring this on your opponent, then it could very well win you the game, however, you better as the card inestment is tremendous, and not likely to be worth it.
 
Thus it is in a burn deck that Level 10 makes his home, where your opponent's lifepoints are likely to be low and Winged Kuriboh can be of some use on his own. If Level 10 could be Special Summoned from the graveyard, that would make him better, as an in hand copy could be used to pay for the cost of Transcendant Wings and then Special Summoned. As it is this is a fun play card that could be used to surprise an opponent enough into conceding because you go the effect off. I have conceded a game in a Shonen Jump when my opponent pulled off this ability, just because I felt that they deserved it.
 
We Don't Gnaw On Our Kitty
 
Kitty gnaws on you. Rescue Cat is one cool kitten. It was originally used in an OTK, then in Baburn, then in Gladiator Beasts and finally in the new Japanese Synchro Summon deck. The ability to get a +1 from some pretty powerful cards is amazing. Gyaku Gire Panda, Des Wombat, Neo Spacien Dark Panther, Test Ape, Test Tiger and a slew of tuner monsters make this a good pick in many decks.
 
The most recent place that Kitty has found a home is in the Gladiator Beast side against other Gladiator decks. You play Kitty, get Dark Panther and Test Tiger or a pair of Panthers and proceed to copy Gladiators on your opponent's field for Gladiator Beast Contact Fusion Shenanigans. But another Gladiator Beast play involves Test Ape. You Normal Summon Kitty , then trade him in for a pair of Test Ape. You then play Creature Swap, getting an opponent's Monster and you each have an Ape in attack position. One Ape attacks the other, and Presto! You just got 2 Gladiator Beasts knocking on your opponent's door, ready for a contact fusion or tag out.
 
Kitty is also good in Synchro decks. There are a ton of good level 3 or lower tuner beasts, and they can easily be used in conjunction with Des Koala to Synchro Summon Goyou Guardian, a 2800 Behemoth that will destroy an opponent. You can also bring out other Synchro monsters depending on what other monsters are on the field at the time. The last card that we had that was this versatile at bringing out monsters from the deck was Last Will and it was banned.
 
Rescue Cat is one of those cards that everyone loves and few people use. So go out there and find ways to use the Kitty and make the Yu-Gi-Oh! community at large one happy body of people.
 
That is it for today's article, I hope you liked it. raptor1k@hotmail.com is where I'll be for questions on cards, decks tournaments and life. Oh, and don't forget, I run tournaments on Saturday and Sunday in Davis California, so email me for details if you're in the area.
 
Thanx for reading!
GZ